Synopsis

In pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity.

Need for Speed performed a lot better internationally than it did domestically earning first place with $45.6 million in 40 markets. Unfortunately, $21.09 million was earned during its opening weekend in China. I say unfortunately, because studios only get about 20% of the box office haul in that market, compared to 40% in most other international markets and 60% domestically. It also earned first place in Russia with $5.84 million on 1,050 screens and in the U.K., with $3.35 million on 469. The surprise result came in Malaysia where it earned $1.89 million on 184 screens. On the other hand, the film had a trio of third place debuts in Australia ($1.38 million on 457 screens); Brazil ($1.29 on 335); and Italy ($1.07 million on 426). The film opens in Germany this weekend, while it doesn't open in Japan till June. It likely topped its production budget worldwide by Monday, so as long as its legs are not really short, it should break even sometime on the home market.
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Despite expanding from 4 to 66 theaters, The Grand Budapest Hotel held on well enough to lead the per theater chart with ease. In fact, its average of $55,122 was the second best per theater average for the year, behind only its opening weekend. Bad Words came in second place with an average of $18,884 in six theaters. This is a good opening, but not one that suggests it could naturally expand wide. Fortunately, the film already has a wide release scheduled and as the ad campaign for the wide release ramps up, it should at least become a midlevel hit when compared to its production budget. Enemy was right behind with an estimated $18,000 in its lone theater. Le Week-End was the final film in the $10,000 club as it earned an average of $14,536 in three theaters during its opening weekend of release.
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It's a good week / bad week on the home market. The good news is there are four films coming out this week that earned some level of Awards Season buzz. The bad news... there are four films coming out this week that earned some level of Awards Season buzz and they scared away the competition. Two of those four films are strong enough to be contenders for Pick of the Week, Frozen on DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack and American Hustle on DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack. Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for the screeners for both of those movies, so I'm not sure which of those two is the Pick of the Week. Fortunately, the screener for 12 Years a Slave arrived and the Blu-ray is Pick of the Week material.
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12 Years a Slave recently won the Best Picture Oscar. This creates huge expectations. I am a little worried the expectations are so great the film will be weak by comparison. Is that the case? Or is the film really as good as its reviews and accolades would indicate?
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Next week should be the biggest weekend of the month with Divergent debuting. A lot of box office analysts think the film will be the biggest hit of the month, including myself. Muppets Most Wanted is also opening wide, and while I really, really, really want it to be a big hit, it has no realistic chance to open in first place. There's a clear choice for the target film for this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Divergent.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of 12 Years a Slave on Blu-ray.
Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will also win a copy of 12 Years a Slave on Blu-ray.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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300: Rise of an Empire dominated the international box office earning first place with $87.8 million on 14,478 screens in 58 markets during its opening weekend of release. The film earned first place in Russia with $8.43 million on 1,441 screens. It only managed second place in France, but with a still strong $6.08 million on 454 screens. It also had a string of first place finishes in a number of other major markets, including South Korea where it made $5.49 million on 720 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $6.42 million. Brazil was next with an opening of $5.64 million on 869 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $5.92 million, while Mexico was close behind with $5.47 million on 2,048. Germany took in $4.75 million on 580 screens over the weekend for a very healthy debut of $5.23 million. The U.K. earned a similar result with $4.62 million on 487, but that is one of the weaker results given the size of the market. Other major markets include Spain ($3.69 million on 710 screens); Italy ($3.33 million on 580); and Australia ($2.91 million on 467). The film has yet to open in China and Japan, but given its start in these markets, it hardly matters how well in does in those.
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The box office weekend was a little stronger than expected with 300: Rise of an Empire earning $45 million while Mr. Peabody and Sherman earned $32 million. Overall the box office pulled in $143 million, which was 17% more than last weekend. It was also 2% more than the same weekend last year. Granted, that's not a lot. In fact, it is probably less than ticket price inflation. Then again, any win, even a close win, is amazing since we were up against Oz the Great and Powerful's massive opening last year. Year-to-date, 2014 has amassed $1.84 billion, putting it 11% ahead of 2013, which had earned $1.65 million by this point in the year. It won't be long till 2014 hits $2 billion and there are some pretty big hits coming out this summer to look forward to.
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RoboCop debuted in China this past weekend and that helped it climb into first place internationally with $30.2 million in 75 markets for a total of $136.0 million internationally after a month of release. The film opened in top spot in China over the weekend with $20.67 million. The film also remained in first place in Brazil with $2.4 million on 756 screens over the weekend for a total of $7.3 million after two.
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This week there are a couple massive releases on the home market. 12 Years a Slave just earned the Best Picture Oscar, so it's the perfect time to release it on DVD or Blu-ray. The biggest release of the week is The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, but it doesn't come out on DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack till Friday, so I will get the review online in a couple of days. On the flip side, those two releases seem to have scared away most of the competition, because there's almost nothing else worth talking about. (There's an exercise video in the top five new releases on Amazon.com. That almost never happens.) As for the Pick of the Week, it's 12 Years a Slave on Blu-ray. It's not the only release coming out on Tuesday that's worth buying. I recommend picking up Girl Rising on DVD as well, while Venture Bros.: Season Five on DVD or Blu-ray is also worth the money.
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The Oscars are being handed out this evening and as usual, we will be live-blogging the event. Here's the last look at the nominations with those chosen by our contest entrants as the likely winners in Bold. If I disagree with the consensus, they are in italics, and sharp-eyed readers will note there are no categories where that's true. Finally, if I am rooting for an underdog, they are underlined. There are only two categories where that is true. I want Chiwetel Ejiofor to win Best Lead Actor for his performance in 12 Years a Slave. I also want Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa to win for Best Hair and Make-up, because Dallas Buyers Club had a hair and make-up budget of $250. Yes it was effective, but the special effects make-up used in Bad Grandpa was just more difficult to pull off, even if the movie wasn't Oscar-bait. Regardless, I don't expect there to be many surprises at this year's awards.
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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is nearly finished its international run and this week it debuted in China where it earned first place with 33.04 million 5,500 screens. The film is also playing in nine other markets, where it earned about $100,000 for a total weekend haul of $33.1 million. This lifts its totals to $637.1 million internationally and $893.7 million worldwide. The film opens in Japan this weekend and if it does well there, it could reach $1 billion worldwide.
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With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. We wrap up our look at the prestigious categories with the most prestigious of them all: Best Picture. Like last year, there were nine nominees. Unlike last year, none of them were completely out of left field. That's not to say they all have a legitimate shot at winning; there's definitely a favorite. However, politics could become an issue. I don't mean politics as in Democrat vs. Republican. I mean behind-the-scenes issues might play a bigger role than what is on the screen.
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With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we end this with the two most prestigious awards, starting with Best Director. You could generously call this a two-horse race, but in reality there is only one director expected to win.
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With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we will look at the two writing categories, ending with Best Adapted Screenplay. This race is about as uncompetitive as it can be with nearly all analysts agreeing on the likely winner.
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With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. This week we will look at the four acting categories, continuing with Best Lead Actor. Like last year, this category is not truly competitive with one nominee way out ahead according to experts. And also like last year, I'm supporting an underdog. (In fact, I'm cheering for two underdogs.)
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With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. This week we will look at the four acting categories, continuing with Best Lead Actor. This is one of the least competitive races this year. One actor has consistently pulled in win after win and I would be shocked if Oscar night wasn't the same.
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With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. This week we will look at the four acting categories, starting with Best Supporting Actress, which is again not a very competitive category this year. I'm not saying it is impossible for upset to happen here, but it is very, very unlikely. (On a side note, except for changing the links and using another poster, this is an exact cut and paste from last year. This category is slightly more competitive that last year, but not by enough to matter.)
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Frozen continues its impressive run earning first place with $24.0 million in 47 markets for totals of $545.1 million internationally and $913.7 million worldwide. It became the 28th film to reach that level and has already overtaken Finding Nemo for 27th place. The film opened in China with $14.11 million over the weekend, which was enough for third place over the weekend, which is good, but not amazing. On the other hand, it fell just 30% in South Korea adding $8.93 million on 1,375 screens over the weekend, lifting its total to $58.04 million after four weeks of release. At this pace, it should catch up to Despicable Me 2 in a couple of weeks, and depending on how it does in Japan, it could reach $1 billion worldwide.
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It's Chinese New Year and the international box office was led by two Chinese films. The Monkey King earned first place with $46 million in 7 markets for a total opening of $54 million. Like most Chinese films, we don't have breakdowns of individual markets.
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Tim's Vermeer led the way on the per theater chart with an average of $14,468 in four theaters. It was the only film to reach $10,000 on the per theater chart this weekend. Peter Brook: The Tightrope did make $10,301 in one theater, but that was over five days. Over the weekend, it pulled in $6,768.
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The Wolf of Wall Street remained in first place with $35.27 million on 5,472 screens in 40 markets for an international total of $125.49 million. This is already substantially more than the film has pulled in domestically, plus it has a number of major market debuts ahead. This past weekend, the film opened in first place in Australia with $4.46 million on 325 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $4.68 million. Meanwhile, it remained in first place in the U.K. with $5.95 million on 506 screens over the weekend for a total of $17.94 million after two weeks of release. It had a very similar weekend at the box office in Germany with $5.49 million on 597 screens, while it is $14.11 million in that market, also after two weeks of release.
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The Wolf of Wall Street rocketed from fifth place to first place with $32.84 million in 4,446 screens in 36 markets for an international total of $80.86 million over four weeks of release. The film opened in first place in the U.K. with $7.65 million on 500 screens, while in Germany it earned first place with $6.66 million on 502 screens. Meanwhile, it made $3.62 million on 327 screens in Spain, earning first place in that market as well.
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The only film to top $10,000 on this week's per theater chart was Ride Along, which earned an average of $15,590. This is an amazing result for a January release. In fact, it would have been amazing for a limited release.
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SAG handed out their awards last night, and while there were not many surprises, there was one major upset, at least in my mind. Dallas Buyers Club led the way with two wins, making it the new Oscar favorite.
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Producers Guild of America announce the winners tonight, but it seems I forgot to upload the story when they announced their nominations. In my defense, they announced them on January 2nd. You don't make an announcement on January 2nd, not unless you are trying to bury a story. As for the actual nominations, there are very few differences between this group and others, except when it comes to documentaries. Then again, that's been the norm this year. No one seems to agree on what the best documentaries were.
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The Oscar nominations were announced this morning and there are some surprises mixed in with the predictable results. Gravity and American Hustle led the way with ten nominations each while 12 Years a Slave was right behind with nine. The fact that 12 Years a Slave wasn't the leader is the first of the surprises.
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Hollywood Foreign Press Association handed out the Golden Globe awards last night, and there were a few surprises in the mix. American Hustle led the way with three wins, which isn't a real surprise, but I think many thought another film would lead with three or more wins. The only other film to earn more than one award was Dallas Buyers Club at just two. That might give you a hint at what the big surprise was.
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The Directors Guild of America handed out their nominations for Feature Films today and will do the same for Documentaries next week. I have no idea why they do this, but it makes my job harder. Usually, I just wait till the Documentary nominations are announced, but this year I will do two stories. Next week will be mostly cut and paste job.
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American Hustle started its box office run in limited release with a stunning average of $123,409. This is the second best per theater average for the year, behind only Frozen. Saving Mr. Banks opened in 15 theaters earning an average of $27,558. It should do well in its upcoming expansion. Inside Llewyn Davis expanded, playing in 15 theaters over the weekend while its per theater average fell to $23,786. It will continue to expand. The overall box office leader, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, was the final film in the $10,000 club earning an average of $18,869.
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Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their Golden Globe nominations this week, and a clear picture is forming. 12 Years a Slave was again the recipient of the most nominations, but this time it was a tie, as it and American Hustle both grabbed seven nominations. If you look down the list of other multi-nominated films, you will find a number of familiar faces.
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Frozen begun its short prestige release before its wide expansion on Wednesday and it was fantastic. The film pulled in $243,390 in one theater giving it the best per theater average for the year so far, topping Blue Jasmine and pushing Spring Breakers into third place. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was in a distant second place with an average of $37,971 in more than 4,000 theaters. Philomena did very well with an average of $32,109 in four theaters. The Great Beauty remained in the $10,000 club with an average of $17,452 in three theaters. Nebraska rounded out the $10,000 club with an average of $11,634 in 28 theaters. It should continue to expand and start hitting major milestones.
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The Book Thief was a surprise top spot with an average of $26,251 in four theaters. It was seen by some as a possible Awards Season contender, but its reviews suggest otherwise. Thor: The Dark World was first on the overall box office and second on the per theater chart with $22,322. Dallas Buyers Club fell from first to third on the per theater chart, but with a still strong average of $18,249 in 35 theaters.
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Dallas Buyers Club took top spot on the per theater chart with an average of $28,985 in nine theaters. Add in its reviews and this is a great start. 12 Years a Slave was finally pushed out of top spot, but it still has a very strong showing with an average of $11,688 in more than 400 theaters.
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As anticipated, Ender's Game won the weekend race with ease and no individual film truly bombed. That said, the overall effort was still lacking. Compared to last weekend, the overall box office was up 23% to $127 million, which is nice to see. However, and more importantly, this was 8% lower than the same weekend last year, thus ending 2013's winning streak at one weekend. 2013 is still ahead of 2012's pace, but by a shrinking margin. Currently, this year is ahead of last year by less than 0.5% at $8.66 billion to $8.62 billion. It wouldn't take much to 2013 to lose the lead at this point, and this might happen sometime during this month. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire should end any losing streak when it is released, but perhaps not before 2013 falls behind 2012's pace.
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November begins with three wide releases of varying quality. Ender's Game is the only one earning overall positive reviews and it is the only one with a real shot at becoming anything more than a midlevel hit. To call Free Birds a second-tier animated family film is being very generous. Its reviews might dip into the single-digit level. Finally, there's Last Vegas, which is flying under the radar for most moviegoers. It is unlikely any of them will become a breakout hit. It is nearly certain that none will match last year's number one film, Wreck-It Ralph. November is going to start off on a losing note.
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For the second weekend in a row, 12 Years a Slave remained in top spot on the per theater chart. Despite expanding to 123 theaters, the film's average remained potent at $17,352. The Square was right behind with $16,359 in its lone theater. The only other film in the $10,000 club was Capital, which earned an average of $11,200 in two theaters.
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12 Years a Slave opened with a stellar average of $48,617 in 19 theaters. With a planned expansion, this is a great start. All is Lost was well back with an average of $15,597 in six theaters. This isn't a bad start and its reviews suggest long legs, but it might get overshadowed by 12 Years a Slave. The final film in the $10,000 club was Kill Your Darlings, which was right behind with an average of $14,750 in four theaters.
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It is not a busy week when it comes to limited releases on this week's list, but at least we have a couple that are earning stellar reviews and could expand wide. All is Lost has the reviews to become a big hit and an Awards Season player, but it doesn't have the buzz. 12 Years a Slave has the buzz, as well as the reviews. While opening in limited release is always a risky maneuver, 12 Years a Slave has a better shot at opening in the top ten than it does of bombing outright.
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October is an awkward month. It sits between the dumping ground that is September and November, the unofficial start of Awards Season / holiday blockbuster season. For the most part, September was stronger than average for the month and there's reason to be optimistic going forward. After all, box office success tends to feed on itself, as does box office struggles. That said, there are not a lot of sure hits over the coming four weeks. Of the nine or ten films opening wide this month, only Gravity has a better than 50/50 chance at $100 million. Captain Phillips could have a shot at the century mark, but only if it becomes a serious Awards Season player. Its early reviews suggest that could be a possibility. Last October, there were two films to reach the $100 million mark, Taken 2 and Argo. On the other hand, pretty much everything else that opened that month crashed and burned. While this October doesn't have as strong a top end, it will hopefully have much better depth.
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